Kazan: GERMANY was accused of being an arrogant winner in Russia, and now its gloating has come back to haunt it in the worst way possible.
THE football world is having its fun at Germany’s expense and no one is laughing louder than Sweden.
Germany’s shock 2-0 loss to South Korea on Thursday morning (AEST) saw the defending World Cup champions eliminated in the group stage of the tournament for the first time since 1938.
A 1-0 defeat to Mexico in its opening game in Russia set the tone for Joachim Low’s men, who finished bottom of Group F with three points from three games.
The reigning champion’s only win was a thrilling 2-1 victory over Sweden in its second game, courtesy of a stunning Toni Kroos strike from a set piece in the 95th minute.
But what happened afterwards was just as big a talking point as Kroos’ pearler into the top corner.
Germany’s coaching staff stormed the touchline in elation over the shock win — and Sweden coach Janne Andersson wasn’t impressed one bit. The dejected 55-year-old took a swipe at coach Low for bad sportsmanship.
“Some of the German coaches celebrated by running in our direction, rubbing it into our faces by making gestures, and that really got me annoyed and angry,” he said. “There were many people on our bench who were very annoyed.
“We fought it out for 95 minutes and when the final whistle goes you (should) shake hands and leave, so I was very angry with that.”
Swedish star Emil Forsberg told news channel TV4: “There is lack of respect and disgusting behaviour. You do not run into our area and celebrate that way.”
The four-time winners, who had not been eliminated in a World Cup first round since 1938, were a shadow of their once dominant selves, managing only two goals in their three group games.
96' - GOAL! South Korea now lead Germany 2-0
92' - GOAL! South Korea take the lead
92' - South Korea Goal denied for off-side. VAR into action again.
90' - Six minutes added as stoppage time. It is changed to nine minutes
90' - Corner for South Korea.
87' - Mats Hummels failed to make contact with his head and shouldered it wide of Korea goal. Good delivery from Ozil
86' - Corner for South Korea. Easily cleared out by Germany
84' - Now Toni Kroos shot it over the crossbar from outside the box, Germany looked frustrated and are shooting more and more long rangers
83' - This time Marco Reus' long ranger went wide of Korea goal. Time is running out for the defending champions
82' - Thomas Muller flicked it wide of Korea goal with a header
79' - Substitution! Substitute Hwang Hee-Chan is replaced by Ko Yo-han for South Korea
78' - Corner for Germany. Calmly collected by goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo
78' - Substitution! Third and final change for Germany. Jonas Hector is replaced by Julian Brandt
75' - Sweden have virtually sealed their spot in round of 16 as they now lead Mexico 3-0 in the other Group F match
74' - Corner for Germany. Cleared out comfortably by Korea
70' - Toni Kroos shot it just over the Korean crossbar from the top of the box
69' - Substitution! Moon Seon-min is replaced by Ju Se-Jong for South Korea
68' - More news from the other match: Sweden now take 2-0 lead over Mexico to jump to top of the group
65' - Yellow Card! South Korea skipper Son Heung-min is booked for 'diving'
64' - Corner for Germany. Mesut Ozil with the delivery, but Timo Werner shot it wide
63' - Substitution! Second change for Germany. Leon Goretzka is replaced by Thomas Muller
61' - Toni Kroos hit his own teammate Leon Goretzka with the shot. Another good build-up ended in a whimper
58' - Substitution! Sami Khedira is replaced by Mario Gomez for Germany
56' - Substitution! A forced change for South Korea. Injured Koo Ja-cheol is replaced by Hwang Hee-Chan
55' - In the other Group F match, Sweden has taken 1-0 lead over Mexico. At the current situation, Germany are out of the tournament
53' - Corner for Germany. Toni Kroos with the delivery, again easily headed out by Korea
51' - MISSED CHANCE! Timo Werner shot it wide of Korea goal from the area. Great chance to give Germany the lead.
48' - Yellow Card! Moon Seon-min is booked for a foul on Toni Kroos
47' - SAVE! A superb save by Jo Hyeon-woo to deny Leon Goretzka. Jo dived to his right to palmed it away from the goal
Second half underway....
HT - It's South Korea 0, Germany 0 at the half-time break
45' - Three minutes added as stoppage time
43' - Werner hit the Korean post, but it came just after the ref whistled for a foul by Hector against Korean player
39' - SAVE! Korean keeper Jo Hyeon-woo hold on to the ball after a chaos in front of the goal following a German corner kick
39' - Timo Werner's attempt from the right inside the Korean area was deflected over the crossbar.
36' - Germany making incursion after incursion into Korean area, but finding it tough to create clear chance on goal
33' - Handball by Reus just outside the Korean box. Free-kick for Korea
30' - Toni Kroos with the corner kick, headed out of danger by Korean defender
28' - Timo Werner's cross-in from the left was blocked out. Corner for Germany
25' - Son Heung-min skied it over the German crossbar again, from a close range this time. Another good move from the Koreans. Chance Missed!
23' - Yellow Card! Lee Jae-sung booked, second of the game for South Korea
20' - The ball was shot well over the German crossbar from the resultant corner
19' - SAVE! Jung Woo-young's shot fumbled out of Manuel Neuer's hand. A nervy moment for Germany, but somehow Neuer cleared it out for a Korean corner
18' - Free-kick for South Korea from 30 yards out. Khedira penalised for a high boot
14' - Corner for Germany, after Werner's cross-in was cleared out. Kroos with the delivery, but Sami Khedira's header was a weak one and no problem for Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo to collect it
11' - Free-kick for Germany from the right top of the Korean area. Toni Kroos with the delivery and it is cleared out by Korean defender
8' - Yellow Card! Early booking for South Korea, Jung Woo-young cautioned for a dangerous challenge against Ozil
6' - Reus tried a volley from the left flank of the Korean area, but it went well wide of the goal
5' - Timo Werner found Marco Reus inside the Korean area. Good defending from Korea, ended as a throw-in for the Germans.
2' - Throw-in for Korea near the Germany box. Early incursion into the German final third by the Koreans
Here we go... KICK-OFF TIME
*Time for National Anthems*
* Four-time winners Germany must beat South Korea by two or more goals in Kazan to guarantee advancing after a shaky start in Russia.
Starting line-ups
South Korea (4-4-2):
Jo Hyeon-woo; Lee Yong, Yun Young-sun, Kim Young-gwon, Hong Chul; Lee Jae-sung, Jung Woo-young, Jang Hyun-soo, Moon Seon-min; Koo Ja-cheol, Son Heung-min (capt). Coach: Shin Tae-yong (KOR)
Germany (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer (capt); Joshua Kimmich, Mats Hummels, Niklas Suele, Jonas Hector; Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos; Leon Goretzka, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus; Timo Werner. Coach: Joachim Loew (GER)
Referee: Mark Geiger (USA)
TEAM NEWS
Germany forward Thomas Mueller was dropped for their crunch Group F clash against South Korea but his fellow World Cup winners Mezut Ozil and Sami Khedira were recalled to the starting lineup. Mueller has scored 10 goals over two World Cups but was relegated to the bench after drawing a blank in Germany's first two matches in Russia, with attacking midfielder Leon Goretzka selected instead.
Ozil was also dropped for the Sweden game but has been restored to the midfield for the clash with the Koreans. Niklas Suele replaced the suspended Jerome Boateng in central defence alongside Mats Hummels, who returns in place of Antonio Ruediger after missing the last-gasp win over Sweden with a neck injury.
For South Korea, Jung Woo-young comes into the midfield for Ki Sung-yueng after the captain was ruled out of the match by a calf strain. Son Heung-min will wear the captain's armband for the South Koreans.
